Sawinor hand-bails foe stairs



entran STATES-"PATENT oFFioE. l

JOHN BROWN. 0F MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

SAWING- HAND-RAILS FOR STAIRS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 5,336, dated October 23, 1847.

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN BROWN, of the town of Memphis, in the county of Shelby and State of Tennessee, have invented a new 'and useful Machine for Scribing and Saw-4 ing Curvilinear Hand-Railings4 for Stairs,

and for other Purposes, which is described as follows, reference being had to the annexed drawings of the same, making a part of this specification. f

Figure l is a perspective view of the machine showing the saw in the act -of passing I through ythe plank and taking olf a piece clamp screw for clamping it at any angle required. Fig. 3, is a perspective view of the scribing tool which is to be put in the place of the saw for scribing the plank. Fig. 4, is a scale marked on the platform or base showing various sized well holes and the pointer or indeX inserted into the vertical turning shaft to which the saw is attacheda scalebeing marked on the arms'to which the saw and scribing tools are attached. Fig. '5, is a plan of the pitch board for determining the angle at which the inclined table shall be fixedits mode of application being shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 isthe piece cut from the plank shownin Fig. 1 in the form of a section of a spiral or helix, which when dressed will form a portion of a geometrical stair hand rail. Fig. 7 top view of one of the arms and box frame.v Fig. 8, piece cut from the plank. y

It is well known to joiners and others that the most diiiicult part of their business is that of making hand railing for-stairs, particularly when the stairs are of that character technically called geometrical stairs, and stairs having a continued hand rail requiring a knowledge of conic sections (to a certain degree) and drawing, in order to lay down the multiplicity of lines required before the sections of the hand-rail 'can be scribed and sawed out; and hence it is that the ordinary house builder seldom pretends to practice this branch of the business of joining; but leaves it to be performed by the practiced stair builders who have heretofore accomplished the work by a difficult process kof calculation and manipulation.

Now, thenature of my invention and improvement consists in a certain new and useful discovery of a new mode of combining, arranging, and operating certain well known ymechanical devices by which the ordinaryjoiner may be enabled to scribe and saw out his hand railing with great eXactnessand despatch. In order to accomplish this desirable end, I fasten the piece of plank from which the hand railing isito be cutgto an inclined rest or table, and apply a saw 4held in a frame having .a vertical vibratory and a horizontal revolving movement onl its axis, commencing its operation of cutting the plank at the lower end at a point distant from the center on which the saw works equal to the semi-diameter or radius of the well hole of the stairs for which the railing is intended and Vcontinuing to cut I be found that a kerf has been cut vof the form of the spiral line of the required stair rail. The saw now being brought back to Y its former vposition at the bottom of the plank, and the radius of the sweep of the saw being increased equal to the width of lthe falling face mold to be cut, andthe operation repeated, it will be found that a piece of wood of the desired form for a section of the hand railing will be produced without any drawing or scribing, requiring only to bejointed at the ends/and dressed on the sides to be ready for fitting togetheryand adapted mostl exactlyto the pitch of the 55.

stairs and the diameter of the well hole (and possessing' the required spiral or twist) the former being determined by the application c of the perpendicular of the pitch board to the side of the perpendicular post of the inclined rest or table and the hypotheneuseknal 'side to the under surface of the inclined rest or'table and making them coincide toioo f gether, and the latter bysetting the saw `in the revolving rising and falling vframe to the lines of the scales markedon the radial arms of the saw frame and making the rest and saw fast at those points before commencing the operation.

Thel apparatus that I have used in order to apply my principle of sawing and scribing spiral lines is similar to that represented in the annexed drawings in which A is the base, B B permanent posts braced to the base for confining the movable cap C, in which turns the upper gudgeon of the revolving axle D of the saw frames and scribing frame. E permanent post of the jointed rest braced to the base, and to which' the inclined rest is jointed to which the plank tothevpost and'bearing against the semicircular arm. .i

. K is a wedge inserted into the mortise for making the fastening more secure. Y Y

- L is the pitch board for determining the pitch of the rest.

. M is the sliding box frame which carries the saw, made in the form of a box for sliding up and down on the central axle or shaft D which is made square and a little 1 less than the inside of the box so that it may slide freely thereon.

N, N are two horizontal arms fastened to the box frame M,.braced by a vertical straining rod P placed between them running parallel with the box-frame-said arms being grooved at their outer extremities (to receive the sliding heads Q in which the saw S is fastened) and graduated' or marked with scales. i j

S is the saw made in thetusual manner. R isthehandle `for moving the saw up and down and in the arc of'a circle and is fastened to the box frame.

T is a scale of well holes laid downen the base or foundation ofthe machine.

'U `is the point-er or index inserted intov the vertical axle or shaft D for determining. the

lengths of the sections of the rail andthe position of the uniting joints.

VV, (Fig. 3) is a box-frame carrying the scribingftool. W isan arm fastened to it to which the scribing tool is` attached (it `may have two scribing tools one above and the other below thearm, to save the necessity of reversing it).

X is a handle fastened tothe box frame for moving it.- W is' a scale on the arm.

Y is the scribing tool. Y Z is the stock having an opening in `it to admit the graduated arm over which it slides back and forth as required. I

fw is a wedge or key for securing it at any point desired. This box frame is put in the place of the box frame of the saw whenthe v plank is required to be scribed before being sawed. This is effected by removing the 'radius of scribing tool. japparatus is easily adapted to scribmg and sawing lines of various degrees of curvature cap-lifting the box frame of the sawA and putting in its place the` box frame of the scribing tool and restoring the cap.

The scribing tool may be applied to the upper and under side of theplank before sawing it, and may be adapted for scribing curve lines of various description by changing' the inclination of the rest, and the The machine or and character for various purposes beside `that of hand-railing without departing from? the principle upon which the machine oper-pl 4 80 ates. Y f y To render the operation ofthe machine more clear it should be stated that the firstl thing required, is tosaw o the plank of a proper length for the wreath or twist of the rail requiredyit may then be well zto y dress it up neatly and out of wind, tosuch thicknessas may be wanted; then prepare the pitchboard in the usual manner of tak-` ing the pitch from the end of the steps; this done apply the pitchboard to the under side fof the apron as above described thenmove the apron down until it fits on thequadfl rant post. TheA plank `for the rail is then secured to the apron and placed in such a j lposition with the pivot post 'D so that the segment of the circle or face mold designed for the twisty or wreath may be described properly upon it. The sliding gage-is t0 be properly vadjusted to describe the `circle that may be required for the size ofthe .wellholej Then moveit around allowing it to slide up thepivot post the point of the scriberfmov ing on the rail pieceY and prickingas. the

needle passes the points ofthe segmentgof the circle required which gives the length and joints of the rail required on its outside. Then adjust the scribe awl by moving it out for the` width ofthe facemold and proceed asbefore and the inside'line of the wreath will be described. Care should be takento pick the rail piece asthe joint of the needle U passes, the joints of thejoints say at t, t describedon the platform Talways com mencing the circle at the lower end of the rail piece. A lineis then drawn across the rail piece from our prick to the other on the opposite sides of the railpiece at each end, which willV give the butting jointss y Then the cap isto be removed, the sliding gage and awl removed from the pivot post, and the saw frame put on its place in a proper position to saw the first line laid/offrono-` mencing atthe lower end of the rail piece.

ator who standing at the backV ofthe frame, holding firmly bythe handle R with one hand, andthe top of the saw yframe with the other moves it up and down the box sliding yupon the pivot post, holding .the saw llirmly Vagainst the rail piece until the first line The saw is then put inimotion by the operis sawed. The saw and frame are then moved back again, and the saw movedout on the arms so as to increase the lradius of its sweep, the width of the face mold of the rail, to saw the other line, proceeding as before; and the wreath is sawed out.

What I claim as my invention and desire" to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The mode of scribing and cutting hand railing, for stairs and other purposes, substantially in the manner described; that is to say, by fixing the piece of plank from which the hand railing is to be cut at the required angle of inclination with a horizontal plane determined by the pitch board or other means and scribing with the awl applied tolthe plank the yshape of the required face mold designed for the twist or segment of the wreath of the desired hand y rail and then passing the saw through the samein the manner above described and set forth, whether the `several parts be arranged in the manner above described or in any other mode or manner substantially the same, by which analagous results are produced.

In testimony whereof I hereunto signed my name before two subscribing witnesses. JOHN BROWN. Witnesses:

P. H. WATsoN, A. E. H. JOHNSON. 

